The former drummer of 1980s pop group Culture Club will be paid £1.75 million by his old bandmates after a High Court case was resolved a week before a trial was due to take place. Jon Moss brought legal action against singer Boy George, guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Michael Craig after allegedly being "expelled" by their manager in 2018 after 37 years.
A court order issued on Tuesday said the group had agreed that a judgment should be made in favour of Mr Moss, with his ex-bandmates required to pay him £1.75 million immediately. The order approved by Mrs Justice Joanna Smith said Mr Moss had agreed to "relinquish" any right to the Culture Club name and its use, including in connection with concerts and merchandise.
A six-day trial due to start next week was set to determine the value of the Culture Club name, the profits made by the band since Mr Moss’s alleged expulsion, and the amount he might be entitled to receive. The High Court previously heard that the band had settled a dispute over whether there was a “continuing partnership” since the formation of Culture Club – a group best known for hits such as Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and Karma Chameleon – with Boy George, Mr Hay and Mr Craig conceding there was until Mr Moss’s departure.
The trial was also due to cover Mr Moss’s additional claim to an “outstanding balance” of 246,000.17 dollars (£201,000) under the terms of a band agreement reached over the operation of its 2018 Life Tour. Boy George – real name George O’Dowd – Mr Craig and Mr Hay were all previously defending against the claims.
Last year, the court was told Mr Moss was amending his legal challenge to include allegations that Boy George “conspired to defraud” him over the Life Tour money, after he learned that funds were released to a US company, You Give Me Life, Inc (YGML), following the settlement of legal proceedings in America in January 2021. YGML and another English company, Other Places Drama LLP (OPD) – both said to be Boy George’s personal service companies – had brought proceedings against Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) in California claiming to be entitled to the money it held.
Mr Moss had originally launched litigation seeking a court declaration that the outstanding balance money was being held for him by APA, acting as his agent. The drummer claimed Boy George, YGML and/or OPD, were allegedly in breach of the “deal memo” that he said meant each band member would receive a fee of 600,000 dollars (£491,000) for up to 80 concerts on the Life Tour.
Boy George previously accused Mr Moss of making a “personal attack on me” and “the most unfounded and hurtful allegations”, which were “entirely untrue”. The court was also previously told that Mr Moss had racked up £1 million in legal costs, with his lawyers accusing his former bandmates of appearing “determined to keep (him) out of sums to which he is entitled, reflecting decades of service for the band, for as long as possible”.
